1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an account metering method and apparatus for use in a computer network. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for obtaining and correlating account metering data from two distinct sources: start-stop event accounting records associated with accounting servers and detailed flow data collected from numerous routers throughout the network environment.
2. Background
The ability to provide computer networking capabilities to the home personal computer (PC) is most commonly provided by telephone companies (Telcos) or commercial Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that maintain network operation centers (NOCs) along the information superhighway. Network operation centers, commonly located within wide area networks (WANs), serve to house the network interfaces and service components necessary to provide routing, bridging and other essential networking functions. It is via these network operation centers that the user or subscriber, through a host computer connected to an access point, can connect with public domains, such as the Internet and private domains, such as intra-networks and community-of-interest (pay-for-use) domains.
Currently, Telcos and ISPs are limited in the manner that they can charge customers for a product. Basically, Telcos and ISPs are confined to either charging a flat fee on a monthly basis, thus allowing the user unlimited network access for the specified period, or charging the user on a rate basis, typically, an hourly rate. These billing schemes are unsophisticated because they provide for only a simplified method of accounting for the wide spectrum of events that a user undertakes while the user is logged on to the access point. Current technology only allows for the Telco or ISP to account for the duration of the period from when a user logs on to and when the user subsequently logs off.
As an example, FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a current model of a network accounting system. In this typical networking environment 10, a user 12 implements a “dashboard” application on a host/computer 14 that requires them to input identification and authorization information, such as a user name and a password. This information is then sent, via the host having a dial-up connection, to the Telco or ISP operated NOC 16. A dial-up connection access method is implemented by a modem (not shown) located at the host and a modem pool (not shown) maintained at the ISP. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other types of access methods may be provided by an ISP such as frame relay, leased lines, ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), ADSL, and the like. A network access server (NAS) 18 located at the NOC 16 receives the identification and authorization information and proxies it to an authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) server 20. Once the server verifies the user authentication and authorization it grants the user log-on access to public domains or private domains, such as the Internet 22. At the moment authorization is granted, counters 24 within the NAS 18 are engaged which begin tracking the duration of the session as well as the byte count encountered during the session. The record of this account log-on event is then forwarded to the AAA server 20. Subsequently, when the user desires to log-off or a log-off is warranted by other factors outside the control of the user, the counters 24 within the NAS 18 are stopped and the appropriate accounting log-off event is forwarded to the AAA server 20. Thus, the accounting information provided to the service provider is limited to a subscriber's account log-on and log-off activities (start and stop times) and byte counts. This severely limits the billing schemes that may be implemented.
The Telco or ISP, as well as the subscribers, would benefit from having a more developed account metering scheme that makes possible alternate billing options. The service provider, who has real-time access to such detailed subscriber account activity, can then devise and offer customized billing rates and level-of-service schemes to subscribers based on a variety of factors. For example, billing schemes could be devised based upon what services a user accesses (i.e. Internet versus private domain services) and the duration of such connections (which might differ from the overall connection duration). Billing could also be provided based upon the priority given to the data transmitted (i.e. text versus video or audio) or the byte count intensity of specific flows. Additionally, service providers could charge customers based on the transmission roadmap (i.e. number of hops encountered for a given flow). The potential for extensive and diverse rating schemes and billing schemes becomes apparent if the service provider has efficient access to comprehensive accounting records. The subscriber benefits because, instead of the service provider spreading costs equally among the entire subscriber base, rates can be modified so that the subscriber who makes less costly connections can be charged commensurately less. As networking systems continue to scale up and the number of service providers grow, competition and subscriber demand will put pressure on providers to implement billing rates and service plans that are more tailored to the individual requisites of the users. Network service providers confronted with this problem will want systems that overcome these issues and provide detailed subscriber accounting information in an automated concise format.
As networking systems continue to scale-up, it will also become vital for the service providers to have efficient access to accounting records as a way of assessing user trends and adjusting the network configuration in accordance with these trends. As the information superhighway becomes increasingly more congested, the ability of the service providers to facilitate network traffic becomes a heightened concern. If the service providers have the necessary information readily available to foresee user trends and bottlenecks in transmission, then appropriate modifications can be made; for example, hardware may be added, software may be modified or traffic may be rerouted. Ultimately, the subscribers benefit by receiving a higher quality and more reliable service provided to them.
Providing account metering on Packet Switched Networks (PSNs) is complicated because no integrated accounting mechanism exists to resolve information originating from multiple sources throughout the PSN structure. The ISPs and Telcos would benefit from an account metering system capable of aggregating accounting-related data originating from various sources on the composite PSN, capturing the data efficiently and correlating the data to provide a comprehensive subscriber-specific accounting record. For instance, network flow data can be collected at downstream routers located at Points of Presence (PoPs). This data contains detailed traffic statistics, such as a timestamp of a specific flow, source and destination IP addresses, source and destination port numbers, next hop addresses, total byte count in a specific flow, and the like. However, since the source of such flow data originates from numerous PoPs, current technology has not provided for this data to be collected, filtered and aggregated efficiently so that it can benefit service providers in devising detailed account rating and billing schemes. Additionally, this flow data has no accounting benefit unless it can be matched against the user-specific accounting start-stop events recorded at the accounting servers. Therefore, the need exists to combine efficiently the accounting event data with the network flow data to result in one unified comprehensive accounting record that details both user start-stop accounting events and the flow information corresponding to specific user sessions.